Questions & Answers: Did Noah Send Out a Raven and a Dove?

In one verse the Bible says that Noah sent out a raven, yet another verse says he sent out a dove. Is this a contradiction?

A.

While this question may seem almost simplistic, it is not unimportant. In the most recent U.S. News and World Report special edition, in an article titled “Mysteries of the Bible,” Michelle Andrews put forth the erroneous idea that there are actually two flood accounts, which she believes have been “interwoven” to look like one, yet contain “a few contradictions” (2004, p. 29). One “contradiction” concerns Noah’s actions when he “sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth...[and] a dove, to see if the waters had abated from the face of the ground” (Genesis 8:7-8).

Ms. Andrews suggests that since two different birds are mentioned, this must be a composition of two different stories, since these two facts are “contradictory.” Yet, from a quick reading of the text, it is obvious that the statements do not contradict one another. Is it possible that Noah sent out a raven and “also” a dove? Absolutely. The text even includes the word “also” so the reader will understand that the author was aware that two different birds were released. It is a misunderstanding of the concept of a contradiction to suggest that different items must be contradictory. To illustrate, could a story be told in which a farmer went to the market to sell a pig and “also” sold a chicken? Certainly. To stretch the word “contradiction” to include mere differences would be to throw the word and concept into hopeless absurdity.

Why were two birds released? The full extent of the answer is not provided in the text. There is, however, a reasonable explanation. There is no indication that God told Noah which type of bird to release. It could be that Noah arbitrarily chose a raven. Yet, the raven is a scavenger that feels quite at home around dead carcasses. After releasing the raven, the texts states that the bird went “to and fro.” It could be that Noah realized he would not get the information he needed from the raven, due to its propensity for dead carcasses, some of which might have appeared in water that had not yet abated. The dove, however, would not have been comfortable landing on such refuse and would have been able to supply Noah with the needed information. No contradiction exists between the verses which state that Noah used both a raven and a dove.

REFERENCE

Andrews, Michelle (2004), “Author, Author?,” U.S. News & World Report—Special Collector’s Edition, released in the fall of 2004.

*Please keep in mind that Discovery articles are written for 3rd-6th graders.

This document may be copied, on the condition that it will not be republished in print unless otherwise stated below, and will not be used for any commercial purpose, as long as the following stipulations are observed: (1) Apologetics Press must be designated as the original publisher; (2) the specific Apologetics Press Web site URL must be noted; (3) any references, footnotes, or endnotes that accompany the article must be included with any written reproduction of the article; (4) textual alterations of any kind are strictly forbidden; (5) Some illustrations (e.g., photographs, charts, graphics, etc.) are not the intellectual property of Apologetics Press and as such cannot be reproduced from our site without consent from the person or organization that maintains those intellectual rights; (6) serialization of written material (e.g., running an article in several parts) is permitted, as long as the whole of the material is made available, without editing, in a reasonable length of time; (7) articles, excepting brief quotations, may not be offered for sale or included in items offered for sale; and (8) articles may be reproduced in electronic form for posting on Web sites pending they are not edited or altered from their original written content and that credit is given to Apologetics Press, including the web location from which the articles were taken. Further, documents may not be copied without source statements (title, author, journal title), and the address of the publisher and owner of rights, as listed below.

Whether you believe in God or not, the approach of Reasons to Believe should be refreshing to you. This book lists reasons to believe in God, the Bible, and Jesus. What is so profound about that approach? In truth, it is often the case that people...